This invention relates generally to splash guards for wheels of trucks, trailers and other wheeled and tracked vehicles, and more particularly to a double-wall lightweight molded plastic vehicle wheel splash guard for trucks, trailers and related vehicles such as motorcycles.
Traditional mud flaps are unable to contain or eliminate spray and splash which present hazards to passing and following motorists. Perhaps the most straightforward attempt to solve this problem involves enclosing the wheel in some type of cover, to reduce possible pathways for water, spray, or splash as they leave a tire. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,605,119 issued July 29, 1952 to M. L. Earnest attempts to do this by means of hinged front, back, and side walls. The hinges permit maintenance of the tire and wheel while the walls reduce splashing. However, this type of configuration is relatively expensive and complex due to the number of parts, hinges, etc.
The device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,226 issued Jan. 8, 1974 to Wilfert et al. includes air-guide channels 6, for ventilation of the wheel brakes, in a contoured casing which encloses much of the tire. A water-collecting groove 4 along the lower inside edge of the casing returns water close to the road directly behind the tire. However, water may still ricochet or drip off the inside of the casing, tire, and wheel and back out under the sides of the casing.
Other devices have tried to solve the problem of splash and spray in other ways. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,861 issued June 3, 1980 to Roberts et al. uses no side panels and, on trailer wheels and tandem arrangements, does not even cover the top of each tire. Rather, the device is constructed in sections of arched shields located above some part of the upper half of a tire. A double-wall construction, with corrugations and apertures in the inner wall which both extend in the direction of tire curvature, is used to collect and drain water and spray under the vehicle away from the path of following tires. This arrangement does not substantially reduce side spray and splash.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,732 issued Sept. 10, 1974 to P. A. Schons discloses two embodiments of a device. The first is basically that described above for U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,861 but with circular apertures rather than slots. The second embodiment uses the same double wall construction but with a flat metallic inner wall having circular holes and flaps therein which form scoops facing the rear of the tire. Neither of these embodiments attempts to handle side spray and splash.
Other references of some interest but which are not as relevant as the art cited above are:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,192,522 Morgan 3/11/80 3,341,222 Roberts 9/12/67 ______________________________________
and Fleet Owner, "Splash & Spray: Can We Control It?", September, 1979, pp. 67-73.